Chink
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Chink is a derogatory ethnic slur for someone of East Asian descent, usually Chinese. Chink may also mean a small crevice or opening, often referring to a weakness, such as a "chink in the armor." The latter term is uncontroversial, since it predates the ethnic slur, though the slur may have origins from the original meaning. The rest of the article will pertain to the ethnic slur, whose usage has sparked contemporary controversies in public and popular media.
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[edit] Etymology
A number of dictionaries have provided different suggestions as to the origin of chink. Some of these suggestions are that it originated from the Chinese courtesy, ching-ching,[1] that it evolved from the word "China",[2] or that it was an alteration of 'Qing',[3] as in the Qing Dynasty. A final explanation posits that the word evolved from the other meaning of chink, which is a small crack in something. This meaning is the one used in the expression ‘a chink in one’s armor.’ Because Chinese people had such narrow, slanting eyes, their eyes were ‘chinks’ in their face.[4] The slur's first usage appears in 1878,[5] originally as chinkie, perhaps as a mispronunciation of Chung Kao, which means China. Chinky is still used in Britain as a nickname for Chinese food.[6]
Although chink originally referred only to those of Chinese descent, the meaning expanded sometime in the 1940s to include other people of East Asian descent.[7] During the Vietnam War, the word was frequently used to refer to Vietnamese soldiers, with numerous examples of news reports attesting to this. In addition, literature and film about the Vietnam war, also contain examples of this usage of chink, including the 1986 film Platoon and the 1970s play (and later film) Sticks and Bones.[8][9]
[edit] Controversies and offensiveness
The offensiveness of the slur is under debate. Chink has been compared in degree of offensiveness to terms such as nigger. Like other ethnic slurs, association with violence and discrimination are made. Kenneth Chu has been used as an example of the seriousness of the slur, when he was found murdered with the word "chink" scratched into his car.[10]
Similar to the controversial reclamation of nigger, attempting to make it less offensive, chink has been used in a positive spin. Wang Lee Hom named his Asian hip-hop fusion genre "chinked-out" in order to put positive light on the word.[11] Punk rock band The Chinkees, led by Mike Park, was named so to point out that current day racism still exists.[12]
The 1969 top 3 hit single for Blue Mink, Melting Pot, which talks of how the world would be happier if everybody was coffee-coloured, sings "Take a pinch of white man, Wrap him up in black skin. [...] Mixed with yellow Chinkees. You know you lump it all together And you got a recipe for a get along scene Oh what a beautiful dream If It could only come true". It would have been unthinkable to use 'nigger' in the same context. The lyric was also included on the 2003 reissue of 1983 multi-platinum Culture Club album Colour By Numbers, which included a cover of the song as a bonus track. The 1994 Boyzone album, A Different Beat, omitted the lyric however.
Sarah Silverman appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2001, stirring up controversy when the word chink was used without the usual bleep appearing over ethnic slurs on network television. The controversy lead Asian activist and community leader Guy Aoki to appear on the talk show Politically Incorrect along with Sarah Silverman. Guy Aoki alleged that Silverman did not believe the term offensive.[10]
A Philadelphia eatery, Chink's Steak, created controversy, appearing in Philadelphia Daily News and other newspapers. The restaurant was asked by Asian community groups[13] to change the name or even spelling, which the current owner outright refused. The restaurant was named after the original white owner's nickname, "Chink", derived from the ethnic slur due to his "slanty eyes".[14]
The term "chinky restaurant" or simply chinky is sometimes used in the UK to refer to a Chinese restaurant, and is likely a similarly offensive term to the use of paki shop for convience store.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ (November 2005) Cassell's Dictionary of Slang. Orion Publishing Group. ISBN 0304366366.
- ^ (December 2003) The Oxford Dictionary of Slang. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198607636.
- ^ (1994-01-01) 21st Century Dictionary of Slang. Random House, Inc.. ISBN 978-0-440-21551-6.
- ^ Chink. Collins Online Dictionary. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
- ^ (2005-05-12) in Tom Dalzell, Terry Victor: New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Routledge. ISBN 9780415212588.
- ^ Chink (chingk). Interactive Dictionary of Racial Language. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
- ^ Random House Slang Dictionary
- ^ http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Platoon.html Accessed March 31, 2007.
- ^ New York Times, April 26th, 1971, pg. 10.
- ^ a b ABC's Politically Incorrect Tackles Comedian's 'Chink' Joke. AsianWeek (2000-08-24). Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
- ^ Pop Stop. Taipei Times (2006-01-13). Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
- ^ label it... chink. gURL. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
- ^ The OCA approves Chink's Steaks resolution. Organization of Chinese Americans - Greater Philadelphia Chapter (January 2004). Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
- ^ Only 21, she's leading steak-shop fight. The Asian American Journalists Association - Philadelphia (2004-04-01). Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
